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Still in litigation after 10 years

Source:

Land Trust Alliance

Author:

Lorri Barrett

Two landowners challenged the accredited Lyme Land Conservation Trust (Lyme) 10 years ago and the cost and tenacity of the challenge inspired the creation of Terrafirma, to protect other land trusts from potentially catastrophic legal fees. Terrafirma is now in its fifth year of insuring land trusts against this type of legal challenge.

Unfortunately for Lyme, their challenge pre-dates Terrafirma (and therefore isn’t covered) and is still in court. After 10 years, the land trust is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But the case is still heading back to court.

The landowners (the Platners) appealed a 2015 state superior court decision in favor of the land trust, claiming that the superior court misinterpreted the easement, lacked authority to order the restoration plan and lacked evidence about the condition of the property prior to the Platners’ taking ownership in 2007. The state Supreme Court rejected these claims but agreed with the parts of the Platners’ appeal regarding attorney's fees and damages and said the Superior Court must recalculate them.

The case will now return to the Superior Court for a recalculation of attorney's fees and damages. This does not necessarily mean that the recalculation will be lower; only that the Superior Court must use different evidence. What it does mean is more hours for the attorneys and more fees. Since the beginning of the dispute, Lyme has spent more than three hundred thousand dollars on attorneys’ fees.

If you are worried about what to do in a situation where enforcement of easement restrictions leads to heavy legal expenses, we can help! Take a look at the legal defense reserves calculator for guidance on what level of reserves would be most helpful. And take a look at the coverage offered through Terrafirma Risk Retention Group to help land trusts uphold conservation. If you have any questions about planning for legal expenses or anything else, please let us know. You can email us directly at conservationdefense@lta.org or call 202-800-2219 for Lorri, 202-800-2248 for Hannah or 802-262-6051 for Leslie.

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